WORLD : 3 Nobel Judges Quit Over Panel’s Refusal to Protest Rushdie Threats

STOCKHOLM — Three members of the Nobel Prize selection committee for literature have quit over the body’s refusal to speak out against threats to British author Salman Rushdie, but the committee has refused to let them go.

Novelists Kerstin Ekman and Lars Gyllensten submitted their resignations to Sweden’s Academy of Letters with a third member, Werner Aspenstrom, Thursday night.

Academy Chairman Sture Allen said the resignations could not be accepted. “The work will go on. Members serve for life so we cannot grant their resignation requests,” he said.

Iran’s late leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, called on Muslims worldwide to kill Rushdie for blasphemy against Islam in his book “The Satanic Verses.” Rushdie has been forced into hiding by the threat.

In March the 18-member Academy issued a statement deploring attacks on freedom of speech but failed to mention Iran or the Indian-born author. It is the first time since the Academy was founded in 1786 that a disagreement has been made public. The Academy is to announce the 1989 Nobel Prize winner in literature next month.